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Spirit Falls 2-1 to Courage in WUSA Season Opener

April 13, 2002 - Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA)
San Diego Spirit News Release


SAN DIEGO (Saturday, April 13, 2002) - The San Diego Spirit dropped a wild one to the Carolina Courage in the season opener for both teams, losing in the 87th minute after defender Joy Fawcett inadvertently deflected a driven cross by Danielle Slaton into her own net. Chinese forward Zhang Ouying scored in her debut for the Spirit in front of a festive crowd of 5,166. "We have a curse against Carolina, I guess," said Spirit forward Shannon MacMillan. "I don't know what it will take. We need to have people step up and take care of business. We played very well, but let in two unfortunate goals. We just need to fine tune it a bit and we'll be alright." The first Courage goal came in similar fashion to the winner as Danielle Fotopoulos latched onto a ball in the left side of the penalty area and pounded a pass across the face of the goal. The ball might have been headed into the net, but it bounced off the thigh of retreating Spirit defender Margaret Tietjen and into the net, giving Carolina a 1-0 lead in the 36th minute. "She hit the ball well, but it just bounced off my right thigh," said Tietjen. "We just have to stay positive. We outplayed them today. We just have to play hard and battle through this." The goal for the Courage was scored against the run of play on just their second shot of the game. The first had been a 3rd minute point-blank lunge by new Norwegian signing Unni Lehn that was snuffed by Spirit goalkeeper Jaime Pagliarulo. The Spirit had more of the match early on, using the new width at Torero Stadium, which widened to 70 yards during the off-season, to spring MacMillan and Zhang down the wings. The Spirit out-shot Carolina 16-8 for the game, but like last season when the Spirit failed to win in three matches against the last-place Courage, they could not find a way to win. In the 17th minute, Mercy Akide collected pass from a Joy Fawcett clearance, turned and tried to chip Luckenbill from 35 yards out, but the ball hit the bottom of the crossbar and bounced down on the line before being cleared. In the 23rd minute, MacMillan also found metal, hitting a cracker off the crossbar from 35 yards that flew over Luckenbill. Three minutes later, MacMillan put Akide behind the Carolina defense with a short through ball, but Staci Wilson recovered to toe-poke the ball away for a corner kick before the Nigerian could shoot. In the 34th minute, Akide demolished Wilson in a tackle on the top of the penalty area, then played a short square pass to MacMillan, but her shot from 16 yards straight out in front was kick-saved by Luckinbill who had closed the angle. Luckenbill was solid in the goal for the Courage, making six saves with some excellent reflexes and positional play. Fotopoulos scored two minutes later, but the Spirit kept attacking. A Julie Foudy volley in the 37th minute forced Luckenbill into a diving save. The Courage had a chance just before halftime as a cross from the right wing bounced to Lehn, but with space to shoot at the top of the penalty area, she drilled the ball high over the goal. "We came out really strong in the first half and we are very disappointed in the result," said Spirit head coach Carlos Juarez. "We want to play good soccer, and I think we did that, but we also want to win." The Spirit came out of halftime break and fired four shots in the first four minutes, the first of which saw Akide win tackle on left side and race in on goal, only to shoot right at Luckenbill. The Spirit equalized in the 59th minute as captain Julie Foudy fed a through ball to Zhang on the right wing. She cut into the penalty box and shot low to the far post. Luckenbill got a hand on the shot, but it trickled toward the left post. MacMillan and Tiffeny Roberts both gave chase colliding on the goal line as the ball rolled into the net. Good looks by Lehn and Nicole Roberts, who both fired high over the goal, were all that Carolina could produce until the 87th minute when Slaton drilled her cross off the leg of Fawcett and by Pagliarulo to give the Spirit another late-game loss. Three of the seven losses by the Spirit last year came on goals given up in the last 10 minutes.

The Spirit had one decent chance to tie the game in the 89th minute, but a header from Shauna Rohbock flew over the crossbar. It was the WUSA debut for Rohbock, a former BYU All-American in soccer and track, who was a member of the U.S. Olympic Bobsled Team as an alternate at the Salt Lake City Olympics.

The Spirit's 2002 draft choices, midfielder Lori Lindsey and defender Amy Sauer also made their WUSA debuts. Lindsey played 25 minutes after coming on for Jenny Mascaro and Sauer played 22 minutes after coming on for Tietjen.

The Spirit will face the New York Power in its next match this coming Saturday, April 20, at Torero Stadium. Kickoff is at 1p.m. PT and the game will be broadcast live nationally on PAX.



Women's United Soccer Association Stories from April 13, 2002


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